A huge, dead satellite tumbling to Earth is falling slower than expected, and may now plummet down somewhere over the United States tonight or early Saturday, despite forecasts that it would miss North America entirely, NASA officials now say.

The 6 1/2-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) was expected to fall to Earth sometime this afternoon (Sept. 23), but changes in the school bus-size satellite's motion may push it to early Saturday, according to NASA's latest observations of the spacecraft.

"The satellite's orientation or configuration apparently has changed, and that is now slowing its descent," NASA officials wrote in a morning status update today. "There is a low probability any debris that survives re-entry will land in the United States, but the possibility cannot be discounted because of this changing rate of descent."

NASA expects about 26 large pieces of the UARS spacecraft to survive re-entry through Earth's atmosphere and reach the planet's surface. The biggest piece should weigh about 300 pounds. The spacecraft is the largest NASA satellite to fall from space uncontrolled since 1979.

"NASA officials have said the the chances that a piece of UARS debris hits and injures one of the nearly 7 billion people on the planet are about 1 in 3,200. However, the personal odds of you being struck by UARS satellite debris are actually about 1 in several trillion, NASA officials have said."

The 1 in 3,200 is not an individual risk. If it was, there would be a mass casualty event wherever it fell.

Not that I’m looking to leave this earth yet, but if I had to pick some accidental way to go I guess having a satellite fall on my head would be a pretty cool way to get your ticket punched.

You get your 15 minutes of fame, it would be quick, your life insurance would definitely have to cover the triple indemnity clause for accidental death, and it would be fun to have that on your tombstone.

Oh, and your name will be mentioned about 1000 times a day by the MSM for the next 100 years whenever another one of them comes down.

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